Bible Strands
Psalms 105:31
He spoke, and insects swarmed—gnats throughout their country.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to execute judgment on Egypt during the plague sequence, following the frog infestation and preceding the hailstorm.
The words — אָמַר ('A.mar) means "he spoke," and עָרֹב (a.Ro) denotes "a swarm of flies," showing the direct verbal trigger for the plague's arrival.
The thread — The event aligns with Exodus 8:16 and Exodus 8:21, where God commands dust to become biting insects and threatens Pharaoh with swarms, and is later recalled in Psalms 78:45.
Why it lands — The text states that divine speech instantly produces historical judgment, requiring the reader to acknowledge the unbroken chain of God's word executing consequences across the Exodus narrative and the Psalmist's recitation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts.
Cross-references
- Exodus 8:21 But if you will not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your officials and your people and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians and even the ground where they stand will be full of flies.
- Exodus 8:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’”
- Psalms 78:45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
- Isaiah 7:18 On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.